Fascism: A Warning
Ratings9
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings9
Average rating3.9
#1 New York Times Bestseller Best Books of 2018 --The Economist A personal and urgent examination of Fascism in the twentieth century and how its legacy shapes today’s world, written by one of America’s most admired public servants, the first woman to serve as U.S. secretary of state A Fascist, observes Madeleine Albright, “is someone who claims to speak for a whole nation or group, is utterly unconcerned with the rights of others, and is willing to use violence and whatever other means are necessary to achieve the goals he or she might have.” The twentieth century was defined by the clash between democracy and Fascism, a struggle that created uncertainty about the survival of human freedom and left millions dead. Given the horrors of that experience, one might expect the world to reject the spiritual successors to Hitler and Mussolini should they arise in our era. In Fascism: A Warning, Madeleine Albright draws on her experiences as a child in war-torn Europe and her distinguished career as a diplomat to question that assumption. Fascism, as she shows, not only endured through the twentieth century but now presents a more virulent threat to peace and justice than at any time since the end of World War II. The momentum toward democracy that swept the world when the Berlin Wall fell has gone into reverse. The United States, which historically championed the free world, is led by a president who exacerbates division and heaps scorn on democratic institutions. In many countries, economic, technological, and cultural factors are weakening the political center and empowering the extremes of right and left. Contemporary leaders such as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are employing many of the tactics used by Fascists in the 1920s and 30s. Fascism: A Warning is a book for our times that is relevant to all times. Written by someone who has not only studied history but helped to shape it, this call to arms teaches us the lessons we must understand and the questions we must answer if we are to save ourselves from repeating the tragic errors of the past.
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In the present political scenario, the word Fascist is thrown around like candy - a person whose views we disagree with is labelled as one (sometimes even used outside politics), and hence the impact of the word is reduced by a large amount. Albright, having lived through truly fascist regimes, examines in detail which people or governments should be assigned the label, and makes a strong case for democracy in the process.
The book deals with a brief introduction of the fascist regimes of the 20th century, such as Hitler's Germany and Mussolini's Italy - and then proceeds to examine how democracy was systemically undermined in today's fascist-like regimes in Russia, Hungary, Turkey, North Korea and Venezuela. The book's ending chapters deal with the US - as a case study in how supposed bastions of democracy are getting battered by relentless attacks on their institutions by their own leaders.
Albright comes across a true-blue diplomat - unlike her fellow Democrat colleagues, when asked to give a direct answer on whether Trump is a fascist, she answers along the lines of ‘no, but...'. Although she accepts the fact that democracy has its own share of problems, and often gets undermined by red tape, accountability, and listening to fringe concerns - she asks the reader whether they have grown too impatient in demanding to be told ‘where to march', and whether citizens have grown so cynical that they want their leaders to subvert democratic institutions altogether.
The author describes herself as an ‘optimist, who worries a lot'. We have a lot to worry (and introspect about), true. Chauvinism and jingoism seem to be the torchbearers of the present age, what with the constant cries of ‘insert your country here first!', and Islamophobia, antisemitism, and racism on an unprecedented rise. The wearily optimistic tone of Albright's prose made me think, however, that maybe democracy is not completely on the wane after all - for that alone, this is an amazing read. If one is even slightly interested in politics, this is worth the time put in.
I listened to this on audiobook narrated by the author and I loved it. I think that she has a natural gift for making history accessible as she covers major fascist regimes from Nazi Germany up to Putin's current regime in Russia, analysing their impact and how they relate to modern fascism. Really informative and interesting, particularly for the parts of history that I am not so well versed in. Albright envisions a future where either the extreme right or extreme left takes control and society ceases to function, coming to the hopeful conclusion that by taking the best ideas of the right and left and by not allowing Trump or Putin to destroy American democracy, we can make things better but that Human rights are the responsibility of all.
